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Minority Law to Go

Minority Law to Go

Written by: Dörthe Engelcke
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 Minority Law to Go is a podcast mini-series about the debates at the crossroads of law, religion, gender, and state power in the Arab region. Hosted by Dörthe Engelcke, AGYA member and acting head of the Centre of Expertise for the Law of Arab and Islamic Countries at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, the series brings leading scholars and legal practitioners into conversation. Together, they explore the lived realities of legal pluralism and the political contexts that shape them. The series grew out of the conference “Minority Law in Arab States – Governing Religious Diversity”, organized by the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) together with the Centre of Expertise for the Law of Arab and Islamic Countries at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law. The conference took place at the MPI in July 2025. Across the episodes, we meet trailblazers and critical thinkers who challenge how we understand law and minority law. With Maya Mikdashi, we turn to Lebanon to unpack the concept of sextarianism and examine how religious, legal, and political differences are constructed and contested. With Gianluca Parolin, we explore debates around Christian inheritance rights in Egypt and the limits of legal pluralism in the wake of constitutional change. And with Scarlet Bishara, the first female church court judge in an Arab country, we hear how legal reform and gender relations are negotiated within the church courts and learn about the challenges of reforming the family laws of Christian communities in Arab countries. These conversations reveal how struggles for justice and change unfold within legal systems where family – and often inheritance – law is tied to religious affiliation. They highlight how these laws shape daily life, mediating questions of identity, community, and equality. The series also places current debates in their historical context. Since the colonial period, the question of minority rights has been politicized, and coloniality continues to shape today’s legal frameworks and power structures. The struggle over legal reform is inseparable from broader debates about governance, national identity, citizenship rights, and the pursuit of justice. Science Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Breaking Barriers: Judge Scarlet Bishara on Gender Justice and Church Courts in Palestine

    Breaking Barriers: Judge Scarlet Bishara on Gender Justice and Church Courts in Palestine
    Nov 21 2025
    In 2015, Scarlet Bishara made history as the first female church court judge in an Arab country, serving in the Evangelical Lutheran Church Court of Jordan and the Holy Land in Bethlehem. In this episode, she discusses the unique role of church courts in Palestine, the landmark 2015 family law reform that introduced equal inheritance rights for men and women, and her continuing advocacy for gender justice and equality. Scarlet reflects on the challenges of working within a religious legal system, the political pressures of life under occupation, the mixed reactions to her appointment, and the transformative impact of women serving in traditionally male-dominated courts.
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    24 mins
  • Law, Religion, and State Power: Christian Inheritance Rights in Egypt

    Law, Religion, and State Power: Christian Inheritance Rights in Egypt
    Nov 21 2025
    In this episode of Minority Law To Go, host Dörthe Engelcke speaks with Gianluca Parolin, professor of law at the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations at Aga Khan University in London. Together, they explore the struggle of Egyptian Christians to gain autonomy in inheritance law, the promises and limits of Article 3 of the 2012 Constitution, and the landmark 2024 Court of Cassation ruling that highlights the boundaries of legal pluralism. Gianluca explains how the jurisprudence of Egypt’s highest courts – and the use of “public policy” – continue to shape the rights of Christian Egyptians. The conversation also considers questions of gender equality, inter-religious relations, and the long history of politicizing minority rights, offering sharp insights into the complex intersections of law, religion, and state power in Egypt today.
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    33 mins
  • Sextarianism in Lebanon: How Religious and Political Difference is Made

    Sextarianism in Lebanon: How Religious and Political Difference is Made
    Oct 14 2025
    In this episode of Minority Law To Go, host Dörthe Engelcke speaks with Maya Mikdashi, Associate Professor at Rutgers University. Together, they explore how Lebanon’s confessional system governs bodies, gender and family relations. Maya reflects on the colonial legacies shaping Lebanese law, the role of archives, and the intersections of activism and scholarship in times of political violence and limits to academic freedom.
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    41 mins
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